UK to hold public inquiry into Novichok poisoning death

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government has authorized a public inquiry to better examine any possible Russian involvement in the death of a British woman poisoned by a Soviet-developed nerve agent in 2018. Dawn Sturges and her partner collapsed in the England town of Amesbury after coming into contact with a discarded perfume bottle containing Novichok. The pair were exposed three months after Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were sickened in the nearby city of Salisbury. The coroner who held an inquest into Sturgess’ death said in September that a public inquiry was needed to conduct a full investigation into how the 44-year-old died. Public inquiries are allowed to consider sensitive intelligence material.